A c. 500â¯m wide and 1.5â¯km long body consisting of basic to ultrabasic rocks, metamorphosed up to granulite-facies and retrogressed to amphibolite-facies conditions during the Variscan orogeny, crops out near Olbia (NE Sardinia, Italy). Among abundant samples, one, collected from a garnet-rich centimetric layer, was chosen for a detailed analysis of rutile; chemical analyses of rutile were performed with the electron microprobe on petrographic thin sections, whereas U/Pb ages were determined by LA-ICP-MS on rutile mounted in epoxy resin. Chemical analyses show that rutile included in other minerals (Rtinc) commonly show higher SiO2 and FeO contents and lower Nb2O3 and ZrO2 contents if compared with rutile in the matrix of the garnet-rich layer (Rtmat). Cr2O3 concentrations are quite similar in both types of rutile. Rtmat commonly shows a greater variability in minor elements, especially Nb2O3 (0.049-0.284â¯wt.%) and SiO2 (0.019 - 0.193â¯wt.%) whereas Rtinc compositions are more homogeneous except for FeO (0.251-0.562â¯wt.%). The U-Pb isotopic data provided discordant ages and defined a lower intercept in the Tera-Wasserburg diagram of 273⯱â¯13 Ma. Few compilations of geochemical and geochronological data on rutile in Variscan metabasites can be found in literature, thus these data represent a new insight on a mineral phase the significance and scientific interest of which are rising in the last years. Future studies on the origin and ages of emplacement and metamorphism (either prograde or retrograde) of this kind of rock, widespread in the Variscan chain, will benefit from these data as a term of comparison.
U-Pb dating of zircon was undertaken with the Beijing SHRIMP II (sensitive high resolution ion microprobe) on anamphibolite facies granodiorite and an almandine-albite granulite from the Santa Maria Chico Granulitic Complex, southern Brazilian Shield. This work was also done to unravel protolith ages which are often hidden in the array of partly reset data. The obtained metamorphic ages of the granodiorite gneiss and the granulite are 2035 +/- 9 Ma and 2006 +/- 3 Ma, respectively. These data are within the range of metamorphic ages determined in previous studies (2022 +/- 18 Ma and 2031 +/- 40 Ma). However, protolith ages for the granodiorite (2366 +/- 8 Ma) and the granulite (2489 +/- 6 Ma) were obtained which are outside the previously recognized range (> 2510-2555 Ma). The magmatic protolith age of the granodiorite refers to a previously little known magmatic event in the shield. Further investigations may demonstrate that amphibolite facies zircon crystals are useful as a window into geological events in associated granulites, because zircon ages are blurred in the studied granulites.
